Spraying plants with bug juice, or leaving a can of dead bugs on display, can't hurt, and probably helps. I had read that the JB sends a scout and then the scout releases a scent telling others it's a good spot. My experience last year goes along with that. I was in the garden, one arrived and I hadn't yet set up my can. I was working on putting my glove on, but before I could, two more came, started sexing on a leaf, and then a bunch more piled on. I ran and set up the can and started flicking them in and kept the can at hand, but also on display in case there was some kind of scent of death. The first year I had JB, I got the scout and stepped on him, then left his body on the ground. I definitely think there's something to this, although I've never been able to catch cucumber beetles quickly enough. They're tricky.

GIO I'm going to look into finding the red dye as well. Are you planning on water, clove oil, and the red dye? I'd much rather use that than the Sevin... Yes, I'll be using the red dye, water, clove oil and other containers with the dye and tayuya root powder, which I have. No Sevin. The only place I could find the dental disclosing tablets was online. Your dentist might have some tucked away in a cabinet somewhere -- I'm not sure how common their use is these days, though I think they're used to help children brush thoroughly! But check to be sure the dye is #28 red, since #40 red is used sometimes. Also, about the clove oil. One woman tried it when we were experimenting but apparently put it full-strength and *some* liquid Sevin in a plastic cup. She reported that the next morning the bottom of the cup had melted away! I read later that undiluted clove oil WILL melt plastic. I used styrofoam cups and probably a greater dilution of the clove oil with water and didn't have any problems at all. Good point about the yellow containers. I got excited about making it more effective without considering the consequences to the pollinators. However, is the red dye toxic to the pollinators? The red dye will be consumed only by the insects attracted to the lure it's mixed with, and that's ONLY cuke beetles, not the pollinators or other insects. The reason is that the chemical compound, cucurbitacin , is in the lure that attracts cucumber beetles. It exists in varying degrees in all cucurbits, but the beetles flock to some cucurbit plants in droves and less to others, quite likely because of the strength of the odor. OTOH, pollinators are attracted to the cucurbit flowers, mostly through the kind of light emitted by various colors and probably the nectar in them, and cucurbitacin is of no interest to them. (Thus my reluctance to use anything yellow as a container in hopes of attracting the cuke beetles -- that might indeed attract the pollinators, too.) I hope your garden won't be as infested with cuke beetles this summer as last year! The kind of cucurbits you planted may have been the lure for so many (I didn't check your list against the list in the link), so if you can avoid growing them again, maybe the beetles will be smaller in numbers and it won't be a losing battle to keep the numbers low enough that you can harvest most of what you plant. That's about all we can ask of nature! I have Crenshaw melons, tomatoes, and beans out in the garden right now and haven't seem any insects so far except for flea beetles. So when these pests show up (and I know they will) that's when I'll set out the baited traps. I'll report back occasionally on how well it's working. It would be great if you (and anybody else who tries it) could do that, too. Report success OR failure. People have a tendency to not think about insect problems until they show up in THEIR garden, so it's possible that some who aren't interested in killing every insect on their plants will look for a solution a bit later in the season. I've never had to deal with Japanese beetles, but a zapper over a koi or other pond sounds like a great way to get rid of them! Sounds like you have some fun projects to think about!

I know this post was a while ago, but I've used diatomaceous earth quite often and I want to put in my two cents. Many people are worried about breathing in diatomaceous earth, but this is a big misconception in the gardening world. If you're sensitive to dusts, then of course take care when applying DE. It's still a dust, but keep in mind you would be just as sensitive if you were throwing flour up in the air as well. Most people know to use FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth. It's mostly--about 80 to 90 percent-- of amorphous silica or silicon dioxide. When DE is mined out of the earth, the natural and unaltered state is food grade. Pool grade is made of crystalline silica. It's super-heated (or calcined) to make it a more efficient filter. This is what "crystallizes" or alters the silica. Crystalline silica has been linked to carcinogenicity. To be labelled food grade diatomaceous earth, it must contain less than one percent crystalline silica. Now we're back to the beginning. If you're using food grade, than it should be fine. One of the big pulls for using DE is it's safe to use around children and pets. Even if they breathe it in, it should cause anything worse than minor irritation. To use it for pests in the garden, it's best to water first and then dust with DE. This way it sticks better to the plants and gets on all sides of it as well. Make sure you purposely dust underneath some plants as well.

Dave in your many replies to my posts, I get the feeling like you aren't even reading what I am saying (or rhizo for that matter), and just spouting off some generic answer. The main reason I am getting defensive is for comments like this, "the beetles are up on the leaves not at the base of the plant - only the larvae are there", where you are in fact apparently denying what I am saying is true, or you are just not reading my post. Obviously that is going to make me defensive, when I just posted that I went and scouted and the beetles were at the base of the plant - and just kind of had an argument about it for that matter with someone else. If you aren't talking to me but just giving general advice that doesnt apply to me (in my topic) then by all means you should say so or I am goimg to assume you are talking to me. (By the way, some googling reveals that they are in fact commonly at the base of the plant early in the season.) In my other seed starting thread you kept insisting I was saying the seedlings were too big for the pots and needed to go outside right now when that wasn't at all what I was saying. And you know what, I was right, the plants were rootbound by the time I planted them out - which was early. You are often unnecessarily argumentative. And you are backing up rhizo when you are actually contradicting him. I'm sorry, I am just trying to sort out a real answer - and rhizo is not correct - the spray does not become completely ineffective when it dries - it lasts for several days and if eaten by the insect it will kill it. I said I wasn't trying to have an argument - I was trying to get the accurate answer. I do admit I very much so have limited experience, but I do have some, and if only the same ideas from people with 20+ years of gardening experience (especially so those with the biggest egos) are the ones that are allowed to be given, the knowledge base never grows, incorrect ideas never get challenged (and in this thread there are two), and this would be a pretty boring forum. One of the first things I learned was that what you read online is not always true - even sometimes from experts. I understand you are king of the hill here, and you don't like anyone challenging you, and honestly I think I am just going to bow out. Enjoy your forum.